If you haven’t been paying attention to the new smartphone manufacturer OnePlus, it might be time to start. The company’s first phone, the OnePlus One, is shaping up to be the perfect smartphone for the hardcore Android fan.

Shortly after the launch of the Oppo N1, the first Android phone released with a legitimate — and Google approved — version of CyanogenMod onboard, whispers of a new company focused on making another CyanogenMod phone started appearing. OnePlus Tech is the company that rose from those whispers, lead by former Oppo VP Pete Lau, with a new focus on delivering a better experience.

Since its inception, despite having not yet released a product, OnePlus has been deeply focused on broadcasting their “Never Settle” message and promising to deliver a no compromise phone. That phone is going to be called the OnePlus One, and here’s what we know about it so far.

The OnePlus team has kept a firm grip on the information surrounding their first and only phone of 2014, but have been steadily leaking information to help build hype to the deafening crescendo so many phones reach nowadays. Recently those leaks have been coupled with playful jabs at every major competitor on the market, a move which was met with both positive and negative responses. The 2.3Ghz Snapdragon 800 processor with LTE support immediately sets the phone apart form the first CyanogenMod phone by making it useful in more places.

The phone is expected to have a 5-inch display but have a slightly smaller profile than the Nexus 5, but unlike Google’s latest phone it will offer stereo speakers. OnePlus describes this a being something you can comfortably use with one hand, but without any photos of the device yet there’s reason to be skeptical of that claim.

We now also know that the version of CyanogenMod 11 running on the OnePlus One will be slightly different from the AOSP-based Android 4.4.2 fork you can install on phones today. During a recent AMA on Reddit it was revealed that the version of CM11 running on the phone would be visually different in places, but the user would be able to disable those flourishes and run a flat stock version of CyanogenMod if they chose. In fact since the phone will be completely unlocked and capable of rooting and flashing ROMs, users will be able to do whatever they want to the phone as long as they have a basic understanding of the ADB and similar tools.

So far the OnePlus One has all the makings of a great phone, powered by a version of Android that already has a strong history of being incredibly fast and secure. Pete Lau promises this phone will be $400 or less when it launches in Q2 of this year, which puts it just outside of the release windows of the Galaxy S5 and the new HTC One. There’s still plenty of questions left to be answered, but from what we know already this is a phone well worth getting excited about.